Roller coaster rides leave my hair standing on end,
After I am dropped down the dips and around the curves,
Chugged up the steep climbs, rocked back and forth,
Lurched up and down, and thrown around like a ragbag.
I hold on for dear life,
Scream out the worst of terrors, and
Squeeze my eyes shut to block out the light.
How can anyone stay in the seat,
When I slosh like water in a swinging bucket,
Think I am going to be catapulted into the
scaffolding,
Thrown on the tracks, and dispatched to another
world
By a line of cars racing across me as they fall down
Mountainous heights and squeal around hairpin turns
That steal my intestinal fortitude and
devil-may-care grin
I brandished when I queued up in the long line of
riders.
At the end, others yell with delight,
Spring out of their seats with a bounce in their
steps,
While my legs wobble and quake on level ground
As if the earth were shaking from after-shocks,
As if all the slow mountainous ascents and fast, precipitous
falls
Had stolen my life’s delicate balance.
© cmheuer, 2016
